1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to processes for figuring the surfaces of metallic mirrors.
2. Prior Art
Glass mirrors are easy to polish to a desired surface configuration by the use of a conventional pitch tool and jeweler's rouge, for the reason that glass is homogeneous. However, for space applications, mirrors made of glass are not as acceptable as those made from a metal such as beryllium. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to polish a mirror made from beryllium and certain other metals to obtain the desired mirror surface, for the reason that these metals are not homogeneous. For example, if an attempt is made to polish a beryllium surface by conventional procedures, the surface will not polish uniformly but will have various types of defects. Generally, the nature of the defects will be such that the mirror surface will have areas which are higher than desired. Such a surface will form a distorted image.